Welcome to our new Technical Drawing Series!

Over this series we will be exploring the world of technical drawing for architecture, construction and interior design. 

We will be looking at best practice for producing drawings. The architect or designers key tool for communication is drawing. Whether it is a quick concept sketch, or a detailed construction drawing, this is the primary way we communicate. A drawing can help us develop our ideas, work through solutions and flesh out the details of our design. As such, drawings are produced in a number of ways according to the stage of design. For this series we will mainly be focussing on drawings for design and presentation (ie, for a planning application) and drawings as a guide for construction (construction drawings).

We could skip straight to construction stage, but I think it is important to understand how we develop our drawings and the detail and content that they contain in order to present the correct information at the correct time. 

All too often, technical drawings can contain errors and omissions that make it difficult for the construction team to follow, and can result in costly mistakes and oversights. 

Such errors or omissions may be:

• Uncoordinated drawings – poor numbering, different sources of conflict etc
• Errors – general errors or incorrect information
• Omissions – information left off the drawing that makes the drawing incomplete or difficult to understand
• Poor presentation – drawing is confusing to read, drawing set is inconsistent in style, numbering, labelling or content

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When we produce our drawings we must ask ourselves, who is this drawing for, and what information do they require. 

This simple question can allow us to make sure:

• we provide an accurate representation of the design intention

• the information is clearly expressed and easy to understand

• the drawing has sufficient detail for its purpose

I guess you could say that there are two aspects of the technical drawing, the visual clarity – ie, how clear is the drawing itself in order for it to be understood. Then you have the content of the drawing, is it correct, does it provide the information the user will be looking for etc. 

The goal of this series is to help students understand the standards and requirements of technical drawings, including the conventions, and how to visually present the drawings in a neat and informative way.